Jones, an accomplished author, historian, and former manager of Canadian Pacific Railway’s (CPR) internal communications, delves into the monumental creation and transformative impact of the CPR on Canada’s NW expansion and settlement. He masterfully and meticulously chronicles the ambitious vision of connecting Canada’s vast landscapes; CPR’s innovative marketing campaigns that enticed people to settle along the hundreds of new townsites along the rail route; implications of the unrelenting construction and racism (i.e., demanding rail rights-of-ways across Indigenous reserves and Van Horne unsuccessfully advocating against the “head tax”); economic enticements/land grants; effects of overt discrimination, the depression, harsh weather; and resulting international tourism.

Through detailed narratives and vibrant, insightful archival documents, Jones reveals little-known stories of visionaries, chief engineers, CPR officials, Indigenous leaders, voluntary mediators, and vital labourers, whom all played pivotal roles. The tragic implications for Indigenous Peoples and blatant racism towards unwanted immigrants and CPR labourers, are revealed, providing unique insights into the anti-colonial, racialized view of Canada’s historical economic progress, triumphs, and costs.

Cautions / Content Warnings: Jones openly recognizes this is from a “settler’s perspective;” if told from an Indigenous perspective, characterizing the CPR as the “Great Colonizer” would be rightfully condemned.
Other End Matter: Acknowledgements, extensive chapter end notes
Images: colour photographs, colour illustrations, B&W photographs, B&W illustrations, archival colour plates, political cartoons, historical maps, charts, ledgers, invoices
Bibliography: Yes
Index: Yes

Evaluator: Denise N., High School Librarian, BC Books for Schools

David Laurence Jones is the former manager of internal communications at Canadian Pacific Railway. A history graduate from Concordia University, he worked for fourteen years in the railway’s corporate archives, researching and collecting stories and anecdotes about the CPR’s rich heritage. He continues to explore the history of "World's Greatest Transportation System," volunteers with the Glenbow Museum and is a member of the National Dream Legacy Society. His other books with Fifth House are Tales of the CPR, See This World Before the Next: Cruising with CPR Steamships in the Twenties and Thirties, and Famous Name Trains: Travelling in Style with the CPR. He lives in Calgary with his wife and daughter.

David Laurence Jones' profile page

“A complete social history, beautifully illustrated with photos, posters, maps, letters, and ads, which bring the story of Canadian Pacific’s effects vividly to life.”
—Derek Hayes, author of Iron Road West: An Illustrated History of British Columbia's Railways

“David Laurence Jones offers thoughtful, modern insight into the CPR’s planning and construction, managing land grants, and recruiting, transporting, and settling emigrants”
—Brian Solomon, author of more than 60 books on railways and a monthly columnist for Trains Magazine

“New World Dreams moves to the front of the line of books about how Canada became a notable country, one stitched together by ribbons of steel, sewn together by immigration, and held together by controversial visions.”
—Rick Antonson, author of Train Beyond the Mountains: Journeys on the Rocky Mountaineer

“Few historians are better equipped than David Laurence Jones, a former CPR archivist, to recount the stories of the Canadian Pacific Railway’s schemes to ‘open’ Western Canada to non-Indigenous settlement.”
—Ron Brown, author of The Train Doesn’t Stop Here Anymore: An Illustrated History of the Railway Stations in Canada

“Jones’s comprehensive, lavishly illustrated book reveals the CPR’s impact on Canada’s birth, growth, and its very essence. Visually stimulating and intellectually satisfying, this is a must-read.”
—Shari Peyerl, author of Alberta’s Cornerstone: Archaeological Adventures in Glenbow Ranch Provincial Park